Another message from the Ætherweb which filled me with delight. Every time I see something Steampunk-related going on outside the beaten paths of Western Europe and the anglophone world, it makes me happy and this message made me especially happy, since it came from an aerea of the world where some of my oldest friends in the Steampunk scene reside: Argentina.

So, it is with great pleasure I prsent the webseries Distopia Argentina to you, which is looking for supporters on IndieGogo. This is the trailer and it looks epic!

This is what the people behind Distopia Argentina have to say about their project:

Why doing „Distopía: Argentia“ / Por qué hacer „Distopía: Argentia“

We needed to tell a story: with strong, empathic characters, in a visually rich and gorgeous environment. Steampunk genre is ideal for this. And we wanted to take all that into screen with the best possible quality.

And that’s how this idea of making a steampunk web series was born, and we felt instantly in love with it! With this indiegogo campaign we dream of having this series made „Distopia: Argentia“.

Trip to the Moon is an action based sci-fi short film that mixes the charm of the original 1902 film and expands it with a more engaging spin on the story with modern and futuristic technology. Set in an alternate steampunk (Earth) and cyberpunk (Moon) reality, Abraham Lincoln is a televised President who is announcing his trip to the moon to the American people as an historic event for mankind. But is Honest Abe really being honest about his purposes for going there? Will the protestors, including John Wilkes Booth, succeed in their attempts to intervene?

In our story, John Wilkes Booth blames Lincoln for trying to ruin his life by freeing his slaves and interrupting his way of life. Additionally, Booth now sees the further threat of bringing alien life to Earth. Trip to the Moon stays true to the race based fear of the „time period“ while adding additional plotlines to the confrontations of John Wilkes Boothe and Abraham Lincoln.

While Lincoln and his associates are on the Moon, things go horribly wrong when the palace of Ruler Zahn, the King of the Moon, is destroyed. He then seeks revenge upon Earth and flies there to kill anyone he can releasing what’s left of his guardians upon the city. Lincoln and his friends must now lead the U.S. armed forces to stop the threat.

Quite a tale and true to the spirit of adventure, alternate history and (weird) science that is at the heart of Steampunk.

Also, Brian has some more details on the film and the project as a whole:

I guess I am not the only one here who dreamt of fighting along one superhero or another. Well, as it turns out, we all have the chance to join Batman’s team in a fight for a better world. As of today, I have joined the team and I urge every single one of you to do exactly the same!

What I am talking about?

This:

Now, everyone, you, too, can make a difference and contribute to this campaign. They offer amazing perks and to top it all of, you side with Batman!
You know the old proverb:
Be yourself, unless you can be Batman, then, be Batman!
Well, now you can join Team Batman, and this comes very close! Join us!

The fusion of modern technology and art is something I think is found too rarely. The fusion of cutting-edge technology and art is something even rarer, so it is with great pleasure I present the Coppelia Project to you, yes, an ensemble of robot ballerinas will be created!

Why make robot ballerinas?

Well, lots of reasons, here are four:

It’s spooky and beautiful. These robots look a bit like scaled-up clockwork ballerina music boxes, with an added “cyborg” factor. They are very strange, eerily-attractive devices that fall outside any regular category.

It’s awesome tech’. Here are hand-made robots developed from scratch without any assistance from NASA or Honda. They use all custom circuit boards, firmware, communications bus, control software, lasercut aluminium skeleton and motorized joints and a unique and beautiful form based on a body-mould of a real live prima ballerina.

Its art that’s just gotta be done. It’s an extension of a long-standing series of art projects with robotics that I have been running for several years, starting with “Floribots” (see below). Humanoid robots are the ultimate pinnacle of robot-making and here we can make a batch of them and see what they look like dancing!

It’s important. I think that by dealing with robots at this level – artistically – we can better work out how we feel about them, what their limitations are, how robots fit into the human world. Other robot projects are military oriented or only deal with the “geek” aspect. Here we are a looking at the graceful, beautiful, other possibility of robotics.

But let’s listen to what Mr. Geoffrey Drake-Brockman, the mastermind behind the Coppelia Project has to say:

And here are some images of the prototypes:

And this is the story of the Coppelia Project from the very beginning and Coppelia:

Fascinating! So please, lend your support to this wonderful fusion of technology and art! Do it here.

Victor Sierra, in my humble opinion continental Europe’s supreme Steampunk band is working on another album, and they need our help. After all, maintaining an airship like the Hydrogen Queen is expensive.

In their own words:

What We Need:

We’re planning to release a new album in May 2013, but we need: Equipment… Cogs…Hydrogen…Steam…Fabric…Lead (to be transmuted into gold, who knows?)… Copper and Brass… Mastering… Absynth… several bottles of Jack… and Rum -for our legendary converted princess…

Well, a lot of things are highly necessary…

Therefore, we’ve decided to launch an Indiegogo project to help us achieve our goal: a new album in 2013!

Well stated in deed! And here is a most excellent video, Mr. Eisenstein’s personal message to you!

Remember Claudia Christian a.k.a. Commander Ivanova of Babylon 5? She is now involved in a Steampunk project. Yes, you got that right. Another Sci-Fi icon has picked up the Steampunk banner.

The project in question is Æther Dancer, an independent production by a crew based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. But there is one catch: Since it is an independent project, they need to raise the funds themselves and this is where we, the community, come in.

They have put up their project on IndieGoGo and have 70 days left for the funding.